Faith
by Azdgari
Summary: A revelation shakes Simba and Nala's relationship to the core. What will happen when Nala's past revisits her? Oneshot.


Sachin (Saw-Chin) ~ 'pure'

**Faith**

"Ya' know, Simba, why don't we see any more little Simbas underfoot around here?" asked Timon from atop the crown of the king's head. The pair carved a goofy, oddball silhouette against the mellowing evening sky. Beside them laid Nala, her head resting peacefully on her paws, enjoying the good company. Standing next to them on a four-set of stubby legs and hooves was Pumbaa, his ivory tusks darkening slightly in the deepening twilight.

Timon's eyes widened, resembling dinner plates. "Don't tell me," he breathed. He rolled off of Simba's head and grabbed a hold of his ear, speaking directly into it. "…is the ol' gun firing blanks?" he whispered.

Simba whipped his head around, sending Timon flying. "Timon!" he cried indignantly. "Guess not," mumbled Pumbaa as he watched Timon land head first in a berry bush. Nala turned towards them, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. Simba straightened up, clearing his throat. "Ahhh, Timon here was just, uh asking about Gazelle population," he balked.

"Wmmmf nnnt!" came Timon's mumbled reply as he squirmed his way out of the bush he'd landed in. Marching back over to the regal couple, he turned his interrogation to Nala. "Just when are you and Simba expecting numero dos?"

Nala chuckled lightly. "I think Kiara's been more than enough for Simba and I." A surge of pride ran through Nala's chest as she recalled the many accomplishments of her daughter. Her eyes narrowed impishly. "Or are you that desperate for someone else to babysit?"

Timon frantically waved his arms. "No, no, that's fine, that's fine!" He breathed a sigh of relief when Nala laughed good-naturedly and shook her head at his response. "Sheeeesh," he groaned. "Ask a normal question around here…"

"So Kiara will be the only child forever…" Pumbaa mused dolefully to himself as he settled down on his haunches. "Well, at least she has Kovu so she'll never be lonely," he said with a wide Pumbaa smile, drawing matching smiles from both the parents.

A mischievous grin crawled across Timon's face. "Well, you never know," he whispered to Pumbaa. "For all we know, there could be a little Simba running around in the Jungle somewhere even as we speak!"

Nala's blue eyes turned frosty even as her heart went for a loop-the-loop. _What?_ Her eyes narrowed as she turned to Simba, who withered under her gaze. "What is he talking about?" she demanded.

"Uh… well…" Simba stuttered, casting his eyes frantically towards Timon for help. Timon grinned sheepishly and sharply elbowed Pumbaa, who jumped in surprise. Taking Timon's hint, Pumbaa muttered something about missing a grub convention and zipped off with Timon in tow, both spewing all manner of apologies and excuses as they faded into the sunset.

Nala maintained her death stare, waiting for an explanation. Her claws dug into the ground, uprooting the blades of grass. The almost imperceptible tearing sounds seemed deafening. Simba rolled his shoulders and loosed a heavy sigh, staring into the tinted sky as if asking, '_why me_?'

Finally he spoke up again. "She was a lioness I met in the jungle." He spoke quickly as if the words were poison he needed to be rid of. "We… had a thing. And then it was over. Alright?" He finished anxiously.

His words may well have been poison for the effect they had on Nala. Her jaw dropped in incredulity, her eyes widening in disbelief. She slowly shook her head, feeling her heart plunge. Simba's ears flattened against his head in fear. "…Nala?" he asked softly. "Are you alr-"

"No," she cried furiously. Disbelief had given way to anger and more than anything a sense of betrayal. "I thought…" her heart sank out of her pads and into the ground. "I though you waited for me the way I waited for you…"

Simba's breath sped up in alarm. "Nala!" he said, his voice desperate, his eyes wide and spilling panic. "Nala! Come on! Nala!"

But his words only bounced back as she sprinted away from him, the air behind her lacerated by long streams of tears dripping from her face. She ran from Simba, from the truth he'd never told her. She couldn't accept it. _I waited for you!_

In the company of the trees and nightlife, Nala brooded. Her thoughts were muddy, flitting between furious and grievous. She stared the trunk of a nearby tree as if she could move it by the sheer power of her emotions. _Come on, Nala,_ she cooed to herself. _Just let it out. Then face it._

A rustling in the distance distracted her. She looked up, her ears standing at attention. _Go away, whatever you are,_ she warned. _I'm not in the mood._ She rolled her neck up to gaze into the sky. The stars winked down at her as if sharing their secrets.

Unwelcome words interrupted her private reverie.

"Don't be angry."

_Somebody's going to die, _Nala decided, whipping her head around. All at once, every cell in her body slammed on the breaks.

A devastatingly handsome lion stood casually beside a neighboring tree. His auburn frame was slim but far from lanky; toned muscles subtly rippled under his coat. A piercing pair of icy eyes surveyed Nala, drinking her in. "I hate seeing you angry," he continued coolly.

_Damn it. Snap out of it._ Nala's brain tried to jumpstart itself. Unsuccessfully.

He smoothly padded towards the lioness, a calm smile spreading over his face. His footsteps were silent and graceful, each movement exuding confidence and grace. The evening was suddenly hushed, as if the lion's presence had stunned the birds and the insects into silence. It was a pleasant silence.

"Sachin," she breathed gingerly as she regained some semblance control of her senses.

The lion's laugh rang out through the night air, a genuine and light laugh that made Nala's stomach flutter. "I was beginning to think you didn't remember me," he replied, flashing her a wide grin. The moonlight seemed to dance with delight in his eyes.

Nala's chest was heaving. Her mind drifted off, intoxicated by the scent of fresh forest bark that drifted through her nostrils, coaxing her towards him. _What is this? I'm acting like a cub. Get a hold of yourself, Nala__!_ With a final deep breath, she tried to salvage the conversation, or lack thereof. "I… haven't seen you in a while. Not since you came back the week after Scar's death with the Mountain pride in tow."

A regret cast itself over his features. "You should have come with me when I left Scar's madness, Nala," he murmured. He looked at her searchingly, only to find her eyes boring into the ground. "Things would have been different." He took a step. "Easier." He edged closer. "Better." He was nearly muzzle to muzzle with Nala.

She took a step backward in dismay. _Why am I reacting like this?_ _I made my choice long ago… didn't I?_

Her mind wandered back to the time of Scar's rule.

_A cub sat alone. Around her, the rain fell to the ground in sheets like a blanket of sorrow, mixing with the puddles of tears gathering beneath her. The loss of her best friend was a raw, open wound that bled freely. Every smallest thing seemed to summon his arrogant smile, or his confident laugh, or his playful smirk. And in the face every memory, her tears flowed like the rain around her._

_A golden brown paw reached over and brushed away a tear before it could fall to the ground. Nala squeezed an eye open to see Sachin giving her an anxious frown. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, he ran his paw over her back soothingly. Nala felt some of her pain and grief funneling through his paw as he willingly shared her burden. She shivered, cold. She felt him pull her close, and without a second thought she buried her head into his warm, welcoming coat seeking refuge. Hugging each other close, the friends drifted out of their tears and into the consoling oblivion of sleep._

The memory gave way to the day he left.

_Scar reluctantly slunk out from his throne room, pushed into action by the unusual and unwelcome sounds of life nearby. He sauntered out to the edge of the outcropping and observed the unfolding scene with his characteristic brand of detached boredom. "And just what is happening here?" he slurred sardonically._

_Sachin stood tall and proud, a tree that would not be moved by the harshest storm. "I've had enough, Scar," he announced boldly, his eyes screaming a challenge to Scar's authority._

_Scar rolled his eyes, idly toying with a claw in disinterest. "And I suppose you know," he meandered, cleaning his paw, "that your challenge shall be met," he frowned slightly as he picked at a persistent piece of dirt, "with the slobbering, deathly jaws of a hundred hyenas?" He finished with a smile as the offending chunk fell to the ground in front of him._

"_I'm not challenging you, Scar. I'm leaving."_

_Scar's ears perked up as his seething viridian eyes jerked down to the lion that opposed him. Sachin met his gaze without a flinch. "What?" he hissed._

_With as even a voice as he could muster, Sachin explained. "I'm leaving, Scar. I'm done." He stared up at the monarch, defiant. "I'm finding a new pride."_

_Scar glowered at the lion before him. "Well, I must admit my displeasure at one of my subjects _rebelling_ in such a manner," he murmured ominously. "But if you wish to leave… I suppose I cannot stop you, now can I?" he finished levelly, returning to his lackadaisical tone._

"_And one more thing, Scar," Sachin growled, baring his teeth. Scar's eyes drifted back down. "I'll be back." He swore before turning and wading his way through the crowd that had gathered. He paused as he passed Nala. His eyes stared at her imploringly. He asked her one last time. "Come with me," he pleaded. It felt as if her head were made of stone for all the effort it took her to shake her head one last time. _

She directed her gaze at the stars, then at the tree to his right. Anywhere but his eyes. "Yeah," she balked. "It would have been different." She steeled herself, then finally faced him. "But you made your choice, and I made mine."

Immediately she regretted it. _Those _damn _eyes,_ she cursed. Every time she looked him in the eyes, she felt like she was drowning in their depths. She tried to pry herself away, but she was hopeless. Her mind had thrown her sense of judgment overboard at first sight of Sachin.

"But you're not content," he remarked, a frown playing at the corners of his mouth. He broke from her trapped stare as he circled her slowly, seeming to flow around her as water flows around a rock. "I've missed you," he continued. "We could help each other, Nala."

Nala weakly shook her head, trying and failing to clear her head. Her mind ambled off again, wondering how it would feel to run her paws through his fur. His voice seemed to swirl around her head. "I was so happy when I was around you Nala, and you were so happy too," he said softly. "Can't we be happy together again?" he implored.

Nala bit her tongue. _Enough fantasizing!_ She chastised herself violently. "No, I have Simba!" She conjured up her most blissful moments with her mate. _The day in the jungle… the air teeming with life and the world around them in perfect harmony as they plunged into the water and into their young love… the image blurred and reformed itself as she yelled at Simba, disgusted by his cowardice and unwillingness to return to the Pridelands._

His words weaved through her ears. "You know you don't love Simba."

_The sunsets spent on the promontory, beating chest to beating chest. The land sprawled before them as if painted by the most skillful hand… the feeling of revulsion as Simba's silhouette stood tall, arrogant, fateful on the same promontory, denouncing Kovu even as his daughter's cries drowned out Kovu's horrified gasp._

Nala stirred, trying to clear her muddled mind. "No, Simba came back! He… he came back for us! He deserves me!" she stumbled. _Doesn't… he?_

"But do you deserve him?" he whispered in her ear. "You deserve more," he breathed. "More than he can give you." She shivered, clasping her eyes shut as his muzzle brushed softly against the wisps of hair on her ear. When her eyelids raised themselves, they were face to face. Hers, trembling and breathless. His, calm and caring.

"Nala," he whispered her name. The seductive note in his voice had evaporated like a drop of water before the blazing sun. In its place was a deep, heartfelt sincerity. It was Love.

The night breeze cocooned the two lions. Nala saw Sachin's face draw nearer. The forest was silent but for the frantic, desperate beating in their hearts. His eyes loomed before her, the moonlit sparks twinkling. She felt his breath caress her nose.

Her shaking finally stopped as she closed her eyes. She sensed control of her body returning. Her mind cleared, the veil of haze lifting.

Nala leaned in.

xxxx

Well, there it is. It actually turned out being a whole lot more trouble than I thought (things get complicated fast when you try to fit a character into the TLK universe like he's been there all along) but I hope you guys liked it. At the very least, I learned that Timon and Scar are both boatloads of fun to write. Thanks for reading! Review if you like. ^^


End file.
